Michelle Waterson-Gomez

Did You Know?

• Waterson began her modeling career in 2004 after graduating from Aurora Central High School.
• She holds a black belt in American freestyle karate and has trained in wushu, Muay Thai, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, and wrestling.
• She rose to fame as a contestant on the Muay Thai-themed Fight Girls reality show on the Oxygen network.

Mixed martial arts career

Michelle Waterson-Gomez began her professional MMA career on February 16, 2007, at Ring of Fire 28: Evolution, where she beat Andrea Miller by unanimous decision without ever having an amateur fight. Later that year, on December 1, she faced Freestyle Cage Fighting champion Lynn Alvarez at Ring of Fire 31: Undisputed and lost by first-round submission. She made her Strikeforce debut on October 3, 2008, against Tyra Parker at Strikeforce: Payback, winning with a rear-naked choke in the first round. On March 1, 2009, at Duke City MMA Series 1, she submitted Karina Taylor via armbar in the first round, though controversy arose because Taylor did not tap out. On April 11, 2009, she fought former WIBA and IFBA flyweight boxing champion Elena Reid at Apache Gold: Extreme Beatdown and lost by TKO in the second round. She then defeated debuting Rosary Califano at EB - Beatdown at 4 Bears 6 with a flying armbar submission in just 15 seconds. On April 24, 2010, at Crowbar MMA: Spring Brawl, she beat Masako Yoshida by TKO in the first round. After a hiatus, she returned on January 21, 2012, at Jackson's MMA Series 7, submitting Diana Rael with a rear-naked choke in the first round. On October 6, 2012, at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama, she defeated Lacey Schuckman by split decision in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors. She challenged for the Invicta FC Atomweight Championship on April 5, 2013, in the main event of Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson, winning by armbar submission in the fourth round to become champion. On September 6, 2014, she defended the title against Yasuko Tamada at Invicta FC 8, winning by TKO in the third round. On December 5, 2014, she headlined Invicta FC 10 against Hérica Tibúrcio and lost by guillotine choke submission in the third round. On April 28, 2015, it was reported that she had signed with the UFC to compete in the women's strawweight division. She made her UFC debut on July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, submitting Angela Magaña in the third round.

Media appearances

In 2008, Knockouts released a calendar featuring Waterson. She appears in the music video for Head Crusher, the first single from the Megadeth album Endgame. Waterson performed stunts for Natalie Portman in the Marvel movie Thor. On June 24, 2014, she appeared on American Ninja Warrior but failed to qualify after falling on the first obstacle. She was also featured on Bully Beatdown and was the central character of the 2016 documentary Fight Mom. In 2017, she competed on the MTV reality show The Challenge special mini-series Champs vs. Stars and was featured in The Body Issue that same year.